Polk County Reliability Enhancement Project

The Polk County Electric Reliability Project—announced in 2018—will help strengthen reliability and enable Duke Energy and other utilities to deliver additional energy generated at the Osprey Energy Center to the major growth areas in Central Florida and surrounding areas. The construction of a new Osprey Substation and two new transmission lines totaling approximately 48 miles, will help avoid system overloads on the existing Duke Energy transmission system by supplying an alternate path of energy flow to the surrounding areas. The new transmission infrastructure will also provide the opportunity for future economic development and growth in the region.

Construction is underway for the new substation located at 1708 Derby Road in Auburndale, Fla. Construction began in spring 2022 on the first of the two transmission lines between the city of Auburndale and Haines City.